Senior captain
continues to lead
Wolverines in pool
and in classroom
By JORDAN HERBSTMAN
Daily Sports Writer
It’s not often that a water polo
player is compared to seven-
time
Pro
Bowl
cornerback
Darrelle Revis. But for Michigan
coach Marcelo Leonardi, it was
the
perfect
comparison
for
senior Ali Thomason.
Thomason has put together
a strong campaign for the No. 6
Michigan women’s water polo
team. She leads the team in goals
scored and ranks second on
the team in assists. But what’s
more impressive is her ability to
consistently improve during her
time as a Wolverine. In each of
her four years, Thomason has
broken her previous season’s
goal count, and this season, she
is just 15 goals away from tying
the school record of 84.
As a second-year captain,
Thomason’s job is to be a leader,
and to do so she has to set an
example in all that she does. She
has to be the best attacker. She
has to be the best student. She
has to be the role model for the
rest of the team.
Thomason’s water polo career
at Michigan took a turn after
her sophomore season, when
the Wolverines hired Leonardi.
Prior to his arrival, Thomason
was primarily a defensive player
and had scored just 57 goals in
her first two years combined. In
her first season with Leonardi,
she scored 58.
After he saw her play, he knew
immediately that she needed
to be part of the offense, not
just the defense. He found a
way to incorporate her on both
sides of the pool, which allowed
her to elevate her goal-scoring
ability while maintaining a high
number of steals.
It takes an impressive skill
set to score as many goals as she
does, but Thomason also uses her
keen athleticism in the pool. This
season, she has won 90 percent
of her sprints, often putting her
in prime position to score.
“She has a very unique style of
play,” said fellow senior captain
Kelly Martin. “No matter if one
person is guarding her or three
people are guarding her, she is
always able to get a shot off.”
This brings it back to the
Darrelle
Revis
comparison,
which Leonardi made as a
testament to her athleticism. At
first, it might seem like a stretch
to compare the
two. One plays
on a grass field,
the other plays
in a pool. One
plays
defense
and the other
is an attacker.
But they are
similar
in
how they both
require
so
much attention
from the other team, providing
their own team with more
opportunities.
“You put her (in one area of
the pool) and we don’t need
help,” Leonardi said. “On the
opposite spectrum, the other
team has to help because she is
that good. She can cover so much
water and put so much pressure
on both sides of the pool because
of her athleticism.”
But
Thomason
wants
her
impact to transcend her play in
the pool. She is not afraid to do
the little things to make a team
run smoothly. From motivating
before a tough practice to laying
lane lines after practice, she has
become a role model for others
on the team.
When Leonardi took over,
he introduced three pillars for
the team: culture, teamwork
and
leadership.
When
he
presented the team with the new
philosophy, Thomason was one
of the first to buy in.
“Change is always difficult,”
Thomason said. “It’s a whole
new system. From the beginning
I believed in what Marcelo was
doing and I bought into it and
really tried to get other girls
who weren’t as sure to buy into
it. I think that’s a big thing that
has led to our success, especially
this year.”
Leonardi’s second task as
the new coach was to name
captains.
The
team
had
a
tradition of naming captains for
the following season at the end
of the current season; however,
he felt this was
too early. So he
waited.
And
waited.
And
waited.
Finally,
a
couple
weeks
prior
to
the
start
of
the
season,
he
named seniors
Danielle
Robinson and
Elizabeth Williams, along with
Thomason, as captains. Though
she was a junior, he felt she was
a perfect fit for the role, both for
the upcoming season as well as
heading into the future.
“Knowing I only had those
seniors for very little time, I
felt I need to develop a captain
in training, and Ali would have
been the perfect fit,” Leonardi
said.
But
as
a
junior
captain,
Thomason initially was hesitant
in finding her place as a team
leader.
“I wasn’t the most confident
leader and (the seniors) were
showing me the ropes of how
to truly run a team, how to
deal
with
conflict,
how
to
communicate best,” Thomason
said. “By being a leader last year,
everything they taught me and
everything Marcelo taught me
has crossed over to me helping
the other captains this year.”
Her ability to be a leader
through teaching others plays
a significant role on the team,
as the rest of the team looks to
emulate her actions both in and
out of the pool.
Though her confidence has
grown in her second year as
captain, it is not to be mistaken
for
arrogance.
Leonardi
is
continuously
impressed
by
her humble nature. Thomason
does not have her eyes set on
her own personal records or
accomplishments. To her, those
feats are just ways to help the
team reach its ultimate goal of
winning games and being the
best it can be.
“She is the perfect combination
of the best player on the team
with a big slice of humble pie,”
Leonardi said.
When Thomason is outside of
Canham Natatorium, her life as a
student is just as important to her
as her life as a college athlete. She
is studying neuroscience with
a minor in writing. Though her
NCAA eligibility expires after
this season, she still has another
semester before graduating and
will be conducting research this
summer.
It is no secret that being a
student-athlete
is
difficult,
especially at Michigan. Though
it can be tough to balance
sports and academics, she never
questioned her choice to become
a
Wolverine.
To
Thomason,
Michigan provided her with the
perfect combination of athletics
and academics.
“You
won’t
see
anything
at
any
other
schools
like
Michigan,”
Thomason
said.
“We have absolutely amazing
athletic
facilities,
and
we
also have absolutely amazing
academic facilities and athletes
are held to such high academic
standards.”
Thomason has taken what
she has learned from being a
leader in the pool and used it
in the classroom. Just as she is
dependable for her teammates,
she
is
dependable
for
her
classmates as well.
Thomason works with two
other students in a writing
workshop, and her professor
Cody Walker said she was
dependent and always someone
he knew he could expect to be
ready when needed.
Much
like
Leonardi,
Walker
was
also
impressed
by her humble character and
willingness to help others. He
sees her leadership skills play
out in the classroom, just as they
might in the pool.
“You would never know she is
a star of the team,” Walker said.
“She doesn’t carry herself that
way. She is going to let that work
do the talking and she is not
going to talk about herself. She’s
a really good citizen within the
workshop.”
Though
she
takes
her
schooling seriously, she is still
determined to finish the season
strong for the Wolverines. She
wants to prove that Michigan is
a powerhouse in water polo, and
hopes to bring a championship
back to Michigan, something
the
Wolverines
have
never
done. Perhaps, then, it would
be apparent just how important
Thomason’s leadership has been.
8 — Friday, April 15, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thomason’s impact continues to grow
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
Thomason has taken her game to the next level this year with 69 goals, just 15 shy of the single-season school record.
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Senior Ali Thomason has had an illustrious career at Michigan in all areas.
“You put her (in
one area of the
pool) and we
don’t need help.”